This is Relaxing
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: Oh yes being chewed on by leopard cubs was most relaxing.


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't...

Summary: Oh yes being chewed on by leopard cubs was most relaxing.

A/N: Pure fluff piece. Hope you enjoy it! This is part of my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe but can be read as a standalone.

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

I grimaced as Alithia finished reapplying the bandages and finally allowed me to get off the cot. The Centauress gave me a stern look, "Your majesty must take care not to do anything that will pull your stitches and try not to move that arm anymore than absolutely necessary or I shall put you in a sling." Honestly, all this worry and fuss over a little scratch!

Edmund piped up then, "Don't worry, Alithia, we'll make sure Peter doesn't do anything stupid."

As soon as Alithia turned to look at him, I rolled my eyes at my little brother. "You had best do so, King Edmund. It's a sheer miracle, as it is, that your brother didn't lose his arm and he barely escaped using the cordial." I was starting to wish I had needed the cordial, then my arm would be healed and I wouldn't have to put up with all this fussing. Just because my shield had been knocked loose and a Calormene soldier happened to get in a lucky hit.

Kat spoke up from where she was standing next to Oreius, "Well, they won't be doing anything stupid today since they have only one very simple task for the afternoon." Yes, we...hang on, what?

"Kat, you know we have court this afternoon."

She didn't even blink as she countered, "No, the two of you do not. Lucy and Susan are handling it. You see the rest of us reached a consensus that the best way for the two of you to serve Narnia is by taking the day off, which is why you are only doing one thing this afternoon."

Edmund scowled at her, "What is that? And why do I have to take the day off? I wasn't injured."

Kat just smiled...I hate when she does that, it's never a good sign...and looked at Oreius. Our General looked us both over with a definite glint of amusement in his eyes before he answered Edmund's challenge, "You, King Edmund, must take the day off in order to make sure your brother actually follows Alithia's orders."

Now wait just a minute. "I do not need Edmund to watch me!"

Oreius ignored my outburst, while Kat just smiled. Edmund growled at me, "Well, if you ever actually listened to the healers, Peter, I wouldn't have to watch you, now would I?"

I scowled at him but Oreius interrupted us before we could get into a full-blown argument. "Your majesties are babysitting this afternoon."

Edmund and I immediately forgot the brewing argument in favor of exchanging horrified looks. Oreius and Alithia both looked at us with undisguised mirth while Kat laughed, "Will you two relax? You are not watching Atuki and his siblings. It's a far more straightforward task."

I frowned slightly, "Then who are we babysitting?"

Oreius answered with the simple statement, "Sherket's cubs."

Oh. Well, that shouldn't be too bad considering they were just barely four weeks old. I looked at Edmund and he shrugged, "Let's just get it over with Peter. And, look on the bright side, Leopard cubs aren't likely to throw shiny objects at your head."

I nodded and followed him as we went to see Sherket. Behind us, I heard Kat murmur something in Irish to Oreius, "Ar chóir dúinn a insint dóibh go bhfuil na coileáin i n-chéim coganta?" _(Should we tell them that the cubs are in their chewing phase?)_

Whatever she said apparently amused Oreius since he chuckled, "No, Katerina Alambiel, I think they will do fine on their own."

Kat suddenly laughed and her accent was more pronounced as she said, "Just remember whose idea this was, Kentauri."

I would have been more interested in that comment if we were going to watch Atuki and his siblings...or just Atuki. But, we weren't and really I doubted the cubs could cause more trouble, mayhem, and other difficulty than Atuki and the rest of the Raccoon kits...at least not yet.

Sherket purred a little when she saw us then bowed her head, "Your majesties."

We both grinned. I, for one, had missed having Sherket around not just because she was one of the most capable captains in the army and as captain of the Big Cats, her absence had been rather obvious during this last campaign in particular. Although her mate, Lieutenant Sefu, was a capable commander in his own right, it just wasn't quite the same without Sherket. "Good afternoon, good my Sherket."

Her ears flicked back and she turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder before turning back to us. "They are awake now."

With that, we followed her to the heart of the large room, carefully stepping around the furniture that had been built to suit the Leopards. Fortunately, most of it was cushions...actually there might have been more cushions in there than the last time I had visited Sherket and Sefu in their quarters. All thoughts of furniture flew out of my head when I saw the little Leopard cubs. Two had the typical golden coat of their mother and father, but the other two had black coats. They looked up from where Sefu had been playing with them and four pairs of large blue eyes fixated on Edmund and I.

I immediately dropped down to my knees, and Edmund might have actually gotten on his knees even faster...not that he would ever admit it. Sefu and Sherket quickly nudged their children into the proper order and then introduced us. Sherket then turned to me with concern in her golden eyes, "Forgive me for not inquiring earlier, High King, but how is your arm?"

I smiled at her, "Healing, though not fast enough to get the healers to quit fussing over me so I can do my work. And, the good General has already decided that I'm not allowed to train for at least a week, maybe longer if Alithia has her way."

Sherket and Sefu exchanged amused looks, and for a moment I thought they were going to leave, but then Sherket quickly asked another question. "And, Faries? Sefu told me that he was also injured during the battle."

I nodded, "Yes, he was. It saved my life, but his wounds are severe enough that he won't be carrying my weight anywhere for at least a month or two. And he put up a great fuss about it when Alithia ruled it was best for him to stay with his family until he's healed rather than making the trip all the way back to the Cair."

Edmund snorted, "Fuss doesn't even begin to cover the ruckus Faries kicked up after being told the Calormene soldier had managed to land the insult of rendering him too injured to return to the Cair, much less carry Peter. The silence after he finally left was both a mercy and most welcome."

I scowled, "Ed." Yes, Faries could be rather persnickety at times, but he was actually mild compared to some of the other Unicorns.

Edmund just shrugged, "Even you thought so, Peter." No I didn't...well, all right maybe a little but Faries' complaints had aggravated my headache and that's the only reason I was glad for a little quiet.

Sherket chuckled then she glanced down at her cubs with the most tender look I had ever seen the Leopard give anyone. Sefu chuffed softly, "Sherket, come on."

She looked up then hesitated and I realized why she was asking about Faries and me. Sherket didn't really want to leave her cubs. The youngest cub, the little black female named Shesheta, tumbled between Sherket's forelegs then proudly picked her way toward Edmund before scurrying to rejoin her siblings when she realized they hadn't followed her. Sefu padded over to Sherket and bumped her shoulder with his, "Come on, they'll be fine. They did just fine with Dame Sepphora and the General watching them two weeks ago, remember? And they'll be all right with the Kings watching them too. Come on, we're taking the afternoon to ourselves." I had forgotten that Kat and Oreius had babysitted the cubs...probably because the last fortnight had been full of preparing, carrying out, and returning from a hasty campaign to aid Archenland against the Calormene attackers. Watching the way Sherket looked over her shoulder thrice on the way to the door, I rather doubted they would be away for the entire afternoon.

Edmund and I were sitting on the floor watching the cubs quietly tumble over each other when the cubs finally decided to see what they could do with us. Of course, they were only being quiet because they were just learning to talk. Well, this is relaxing. Keket, the eldest, was an adorable little thing with her perfect golden coat and already looking like a miniature of her mother. She crept up to me cautiously sniffing. I couldn't help myself. I shifted my right foot forward and Keket leapt about a half-foot in the air and back. Edmund sniggered and I suppressed my own laugh as Keket flattened her ears and tried to growl at my boot then she crept up and bopped it with her paw. I laughed and she looked at me, "'Ing?" Well that was adorable.

I nodded, "Yes, Keket. I'm King Peter."

Davu, the younger of the males, suddenly made his presence known as he tumbled over my right hand and latched his little claws in my tunic. The little black cub struggled to pull himself up into my lap at the same time Keket decided my boots weren't that interesting anymore and began climbing on my legs just above where I had crossed my ankles. Edmund's grunt made me look over and I grinned at the sight of Shesheta bouncing on Edmund's stomach, apparently the sound he made when she did so was absolutely fascinating to her. Then, Khufu, the second eldest, launched himself onto Edmund's left foot and started chewing on his boot. Edmund sat up straighter, only to immediately have to catch Shesheta who had latched onto the front of his tunic, and then he looked at me, "No help, brother?"

I gestured at Keket and Davu, "I'm a little busy, Ed. Can't you handle it?" I actually managed to say that with a straight face. I looked down just then and immediately had to rescue my belt from Davu, "You cannot chew on that, sir." He batted at my fingers with a giggle then I yelped as Keket slipped and dug all her claws into my knee and the upper part of my shin to keep from falling.

Edmund looked up from where he was still trying to convince Khufu to let go of his boot and smirked. Then he leaned over and handed me Shesheta, "Here, since you have everything sorted."

Davu returned to chewing on my belt then Shesheta reached out and tried to bat my nose, "Got!"

I jerked my head back just as Keket attacked the other side of my belt with another attempt at a growl, it came out as more of a purr. Shesheta clung to the shoulder of my tunic and I let her stay there as I tried to rescue my belt from the attention of two Leopard cubs. Working essentially one-handed, since my arm wasn't very mobile at the moment, it took forever as I gently scolded them, "No chewing on my belt."

Two pairs of big blue eyes blinked up at me, and then Davu happily shouted, "No!"

I immediately turned to my right as a little voice giggled "Got!" in my ear. Shesheta seized the opportunity and bit me on the end of the nose at the same time Keket and Davu each started chewing on my fingers.

My voice came out sounding rather congested as Shesheta pressed both paws on either side of my nose and still refused to let go with her teeth, "Edmund!" I was trying to pull my fingers out of Davu and Keket's mouths as gently as possible when I heard Edmund laughing his head off. Looking over Shesheta, I spotted Edmund sitting with Khufu in his lap and just laughing as he watched me deal with the other three cubs. Little brothers.

I finally managed to pry my fingers out of Davu and Keket's mouths and reached up to pry Shesheta off my nose. Keket rolled out of my lap and pranced over to Edmund, "'Ing!"

Davu batted at my belt again, "No!"

Shesheta giggled as she let go of my nose then she leaned forward again and licked my nose, "Got!" Apparently, the cubs were each testing out a new word. I cradled Shesheta against my chest then carefully reached down with my other hand and tickled Davu behind his ears. That little rascal rolled onto his back and managed to latch one set of claws in my sleeve. I tickled his stomach in retaliation while Shesheta giggled then purred as she watched from where she was cradled against my chest.

I glanced over to see Edmund was attempting to teach Keket and Khufu his name. My guess was he was trying to forestall any more calls of "Emu" since Atuki and his siblings had nearly grown out of their more interesting vocabulary...although Atuki still liked to say "Duht" whenever his mother wasn't around. Khufu had his paws on Edmund's chest and was stretching up to look at him, golden coat gleaming in the sunlight, as Edmund talked to him. "Come on, Khufu, say 'Edmund'. Ed-mund."

Keket giggled, "'Ing!"

Then Khufu tilted his head and said, "Mun?" I shook with the effort not to burst out laughing at the look on Edmund's face. Oh if Sherket's cubs started calling him 'Ing Mun, Kat and the girls would never let him live it down...and neither would I. Edmund shook his head, apparently giving up and obviously hoping Khufu didn't stick 'Mun' for his name.

All four cubs would randomly attack our boots and chew for a while...since we could never distract them fast enough to stop the chewing. Finally, we gave up and let the cubs chase our belts as we dragged them across the floor. The doors opened just as Khufu and Keket yanked Edmund's belt out of his hands while Davu and Shesheta had worn themselves out completely and were sleeping in my lap. Keket and Khufu immediately dropped the belt and ran as fast as their little legs could carry them toward Sherket and Sefu calling, "Mama!"

Sherket instantly lowered her head and the Leopards rubbed their faces against each other in greeting. Then, Sherket gave them a stern look, "Did you behave yourselves, my cubs?"

Keket and Khufu both nodded while Sefu walked around them and quietly whispered where Edmund and I could put Davu and Shesheta since those two little cubs were sleeping through it all. Edmund picked up Davu while I cradled Shesheta and shifted into a kneeling position before standing. Following Sefu, Edmund and I carefully put Shesheta and Davu down on one of the larger circular cushions and, judging by the teeth marks along the edges, it was frequently used by the cubs.

Returning to the doors, Edmund and I both nodded to Sherket and then to Sefu as he accompanied us. He bowed his head respectfully, "Our thanks, your majesties, for watching our cubs."

Edmund answered for me, "It was no trouble at all, Sefu. Actually, I think we both found it relaxing." Oh yes being chewed on by leopard cubs was most relaxing. Just as we left, we heard Khufu mention "Mun" to his mother. Edmund groaned and I chuckled.

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

**A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, so another fluff piece, but this time without the Raccoons. Less mayhem, more awww-worthy moments...I think. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.**


End file.
